Wikipedia's first sentence called it “name of a poetic text”. Today it says “name given to a poetic text that presents the legendary greek figure orpheus giving a poetic speech to his son”.
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Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in October 6, 2023
Pseudo-Orpheus is the name of a poetic text, preserved only in quotations by various Christian writers, which has a complex history .1 Pseudo-Orpheus appears in multiple recensions (versions created over time). The poem presents the legendary Greek figure Orpheus as giving a poetic speech to his son, Musaeus, identified as the biblical Moses , passing on to him hidden wisdom he learned in Egypt. It presents a monotheistic view of God , whom, according to the poem, no one has seen, except for Abraham, who was able to see God due to his skill at astrology. Although preserved in Christian writers, most scholars believe that it is "of Jewish authorship." Over time, a number of Christian and Jewish authors reworked Greek traditions about Orpheus and used them to support their monotheistic views and to assert the religious supremacy of Moses and monotheism over Greek polytheistic views. The rhetorical device of using legendary non-monotheistic figures to endorse Judaism is likewise found in the Sibylline Oracles . "Pseudo-Orpheus" is also sometimes applied to the unknown writer of other works falsely attributed to Orpheus.2 Backgrounds of Early Christianity .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1159663653.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Pseudo-Orpheus is the name of a poetic text, preserved only in quotations by various Christian writers, which has a complex history. Pseudo-Orpheus appears in multiple recensions (versions created over time). The poem presents the legendary Greek figure Orpheus as giving a poetic speech to his son, Musaeus, identified as the biblical Moses , passing on to him hidden wisdom he learned in Egypt. It presents a monotheistic view of God, whom, according to the poem, no one has seen, except for Abraham, who was able to see God due to his skill at astrology. Although preserved in Christian writers, most scholars believe that it is "of Jewish authorship." Over time, a number of Christian and Jewish authors reworked Greek traditions about Orpheus and used them to support their monotheistic views and to assert the religious supremacy of Moses and monotheism over Greek polytheistic views. The rhetorical device of using legendary non-monotheistic figures to endorse Judaism is likewise found in the Sibylline Oracles . "Pseudo-Orpheus" is also sometimes applied to the unknown writer of other works falsely attributed to Orpheus. Backgrounds of Early Christianity .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 958906847.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Jewish poem about Orpheus This article is about Orpheus' speech to his son.Pseudo-Orpheus is the name given to a poetic text that presents the legendary Greek figure Orpheus giving a poetic speech to his son, Musaeus, identified as the biblical Moses , passing on to him hidden wisdom he learned in Egypt. It presents a monotheistic view of God , whom, according to the poem, no one has seen, except for Abraham , who was able to see God due to his skill at astrology . Pseudo-Orpheus appears in multiple recensions (versions created over time). Although the poem is preserved only in quotations by various Christian writers, most scholars believe that the text is originally "of Jewish authorship." Over time, a number of Christian and Jewish authors reworked Greek traditions about Orpheus and used them to support their monotheistic views and to assert the religious supremacy of Moses and monotheism over Greek polytheistic views. The rhetorical device of using legendary non-monotheistic figures to endorse Judaism is likewise found in the Sibylline Oracles . Backgrounds of Early Christianity .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1286933488. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “name of a poetic text”. Today it says “name given to a poetic text that presents the legendary greek figure orpheus giving a poetic speech to his son”. Read the current article and compare.
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2020, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
name of a poetic text
Now
name given to a poetic text that presents the legendary greek figure orpheus giving a poetic speech to his son
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
